


Demon Sister

by ScriptrixDraconum



Series: Steel and Roses [10]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Comfort, Disappointment, F/M, Family, Flirting, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 13:31:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3611844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScriptrixDraconum/pseuds/ScriptrixDraconum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alistair convinces Esmé Cousland to be his rock while he meets his half-sister, Goldanna. The result? Alistair finds the family he always needed, rather than the one he's always wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Demon Sister

Nighttime had fallen. Alistair had downed three ales, but was surprisingly not drunk. I only had the one, too distracted by my own thoughts to remember to drink it. The rest of our party was either drinking on their own, in their rented rooms, or elsewhere in town.

“Let’s go see my sister, tomorrow,” the man blurted.

“Hmm, what?” I asked, having been dragged back down from the clouds by his voice.

“My sister. Would you come with me, when I try to find her?”

“I… well, sure, if you want me to. But wouldn’t you rather go alone?”

“No, definitely not. Coward, remember?”

“What is so scary about meeting a potential sibling?”

“I honestly don’t know. Call it a gut feeling. Or, maybe I’m worried she’ll turn out to be a demon. Again.”

“Ha, alright, I’ll go.”

“After breakfast?”

“Sure.”

That night, I shared a large room with Morrigan, Leliana, and Wynne. Unfortunately the room only had two big beds, so Wynne and I shared one. Leliana slept on the floor by the small hearth with a blanket and pillow, preferring it to sharing a bed with Morrigan. I understood.

The following morning, Alistair was dressed in simpler clothing, something he must have bought in town, as it was unspoiled by grime. He had also done something strange to his hair, some sort of oiled coiffing that just looked odd.

I had dressed down too, except my garb likely smelled of dog and other things more foul. Alistair said nothing to hint at such, however, and soon we were off to the location in which he thought his sister had a home.

The further we walked, the closer we were to the woman’s supposed house, the more flustered Alistair grew. At one point, my hand bumped his, and he grabbed onto it with more strength than necessary.

“Someone’s nervous,” I crooned.

“Yep. That’s me. Ser Nervous.”

“Don’t worry, Alistair. The likelihood of your sister being an actual demon is relatively low.”

“You could at least lie and say she can’t possibly be a demon.”

“But where’s the fun in that? You’re cute when you’re nervous.”

“No I’m not,” he insisted, but then turned to me with a curious look. “Am I?”

I grinned, but remained silent.

“There it is,” he said as he spotted a rather shoddy house. His hand was nearly crushing mine. We approached the front door, and with his free hand, he knocked three times.

. . . . . .

“Do you think she’ll talk?” was the first thing Alistair said after we were kicked out of the woman’s home.

Goldanna had been a demon, indeed, but not the supernatural kind. Initially, the woman had been in shock. She had been told that Alistair had died as a baby. Eventually she revealed stark bitterness, to say the least, of Alistair’s supposed comfortable upbringing, and blamed him and King Maric for the death of her mother and the financial troubles of her family. She wouldn’t hear it when I tried to explain that Alistair only wanted to meet his family, nor when he claimed, truthfully, that he was not the coddled prince she assumed he was. In the end, we left mere moments after the conversation began.

Alistair was worried that Goldanna would tell someone, anyone who would listen, about who Alistair was. I didn’t know why she would use that as a sort of threat, or why we would assume it would damage him in some way. The only explanation I could think of was that it could put him in danger of assassination, perhaps by Anora’s faithful.

“I don’t know, Alistair. I don’t think it would do anything if she did. I mean, for her. Perhaps she would sell the information… but, honestly, who would believe her? Who would believe me if I just walked into the middle of the market and shouted it out to the world?”

“Please don’t do that.”

“I wasn’t planning on it. But my point is, no, I don’t think she’ll tell anyone. We held onto the idea that your birthright means nothing. Perhaps she’ll take that to heart.”

“Maybe. I hope so.” We started walking back toward the inn, slowly, dragging. “It’s… harder, remembering what she was like in the Fade, the fake Goldanna. She was so welcoming, exactly what I… well, what I wanted… and expected, I suppose.”

“That’s what desire demons do best, Alistair.”

“True enough.”

“Is having a family really that important to you?”

“Well… it was. But if that’s what family is like….”

“It isn’t. Not at all. I mean, sure, sometimes Fergus and I didn’t get along. Sometimes my parents didn’t get along. That’s just… life. But blood doesn’t always mean something. I can’t stand my cousins from my mother’s side, for instance.”

Finally, a small smile crept across the man’s face.

“And, anyway,” I continued, “you _have_ a family. You have all of us, the ones you’ve spent months with on the road. We fight and laugh together just as much as any blood-tied family. And you can’t forget Arl Eamon. He’s family to you, yes? With any luck, he’ll be healed, and you can reunite with him, something I _know_ you want to do. And of course there’s Duncan….” Alistair frowned, but I reached for his hand, and gave a gentle squeeze. “He may be no longer with us, but he was your family, too. As were the other Wardens, were they not? You were never without family, Alistair. One less cranky demon-sister who just wanted a hand-out doesn’t change that fact. Forget her – she was only looking out for herself and her family, and you should do the same.”

“Yes… you’re right. Thank you, for coming with me. For being here. I think if I had gone alone I would have given her my entire purse just to lessen the guilt she rained upon me.” He smiled again, faintly. “I think just your presence helps me feel… stronger, I suppose. Still, five nieces and nephews… it would have been nice, if I could have known them.”

“Do you remember them all, their versions in the Fade?”

“Not really. They were always running about, playing. I suppose the demon didn’t spend the time to get to know them well enough to pretend to _be_ them. Anyway….”

“ _Anyway_ , it’s over, now. We have business here in town, and then we need to go south, to find the Dalish clan east of Lothering.”

“Did I ever tell you I have a _thing_ for practical, decisive women? I didn’t, did I? Well, now you know. More’s the better.”

“Just so long as I rub off on you,” I said with a wink.

Alistair’s ears flushed immediately, and his nervous laughter filled the air.


End file.
